Data Robotics Reveals New 8- And 12-Bay Drobo Products

Data Robotics is hardly a startup any more. At this point, they're a well-known name in the storage business, and they're still just about the only company out there with automated backup solutions like the Drobo. It's more like a storage robot than a dumb RAID box, and while the company has focused mostly on consumers thus far, they're now starting to break into the enterprise market. They've offered the DroboPro before, but the company's newest line "means business." And that means they're after business dollars.

Three main products are being announced this week: an 8-bay file sharing Drobo with remote backup (which is available now), an 8-bay SAN (iSCSI-attached) Drobo, and a 12-bay SAN (iSCSI-attached) Drobo with expanded redundancy features, support for thin provisioning and deprovisioning and new data-aware tiering technology. Drobo's new business line also includes performance enhancements, new management software and extended business support and services, in addition to the existing ease of use, affordable capacity and storage features that set Drobo apart from any other storage product on the market. The systems are based on the patented BeyondRAIDTM technology and are certified for VMware, Citrix, Microsoft Exchange and Symantec backup.

Pricing start at around $2000 for the basic 8-bay products, but the new 12-bay device starts at around $8500. But serious business solutions demand serious gear, and it's clear that these Drobos are the most intense yet.

Drobo Means BusinessNew Drobo Business Line Delivers 'Big Storage in a Small Box' - Unprecedented Combination of Technical Sophistication, Ease of Use and Affordability for Small and Medium Businesses

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Feb. 8, 2011 - Drobo, makers of the award-winning data storage products for businesses and professionals, today introduced a new line of sophisticated yet easy-to-use and affordable storage solutions for small and medium businesses (SMBs). Designed specifically for customers who need critical business storage capacity without the complexity and price of legacy storage solutions, the new Drobo business systems are optimal as primary and secondary storage for Microsoft Exchange®, Sharepoint®, and similar business applications, as well as departmental file-sharing or offsite backup, and server virtualization deployments including those using VMware solutions.

"VMware recognizes the importance of affordable storage alternatives for firms implementing virtualization as they continue on the path toward IT as a service," explained Parag Patel, vice president, global strategic alliances, VMware. "Like larger organizations, SMBs are looking for ways to improve productivity and lower IT costs. Drobo streamlines VMware-virtualized storage for SMBs by delivering storage that is simple, scalable and automated - all with an affordable price tag."

With more than 150,000 customers worldwide, Drobo has been embraced by individual professionals and small businesses globally. The new Drobo business systems up the ante with improved system performance and redundancy, a new business-oriented dashboard and control panel and upgraded business support options - all while maintaining Drobo?s breakthrough ease-of-use and the BeyondRAIDTM data protection capabilities that define the Drobo brand.

"A complex quote, full of techno-babble and corporate speak, wouldn't represent Drobo fairly," said Mark Peters, senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group. "Now available for SMBs, Drobo is what it has always been - surprisingly advanced and scalable storage, packaged and priced for people who don't need to have doctorates or second mortgages to have easy, functional and sophisticated capabilities at their fingertips."

"Our customers aren't shy; they have tried Drobo for themselves and are now demanding more units for the rest of their business," said Tom Buiocchi, CEO at Drobo. "Our new Drobo for business family continues to meld even more ?big technology? and ?Drobo ease-of-use? for the best storage experience ever."

Today's announcement covers a new Drobo family of products designed with business in mind. These products include:

Drobo's new business line also includes performance enhancements, new management software and extended business support and services, in addition to the existing ease of use, affordable capacity and storage features that set Drobo apart from any other storage product on the market. The systems are based on the patented BeyondRAIDTM technology and are certified for VMware, Citrix, Microsoft Exchange and Symantec backup. Prices start just above $2K. The new line of business products is available for purchase at http://www.Drobo.com.